Orihime's Pain
by Tia-Chan18
Summary: Alright the title really sucks. But I'm sick . 3 weeks after Orihime is saved from Hueco Mundo, she stays away from school. Tatsuki tells Ichigo and Renji things that shakes their very cores. With Ichigo's help, Will Orihime come back? -IchiHime-


Alright this idea came to me while I was on a walk with my sister.

It's not usually the way I get ideas but I was talking to her about it.

I'm also sick right now so that may have helped.

This one I typed straight onto the computer before I lost the idea. XD

My sister just said to write the ideas down but when I'm sick, I tend to be very lazy.

Anyways, please enjoy this fanfic! Written in Orihime's and Ichigo's POV~

**I don't own bleach or any of the characters!**

It was any ordinary day. I decided to take a few weeks off after everyone saved me from Hueco Mundo. Truth be told, I never knew how to talk to them anymore let alone see them. Although it hurt my heart knowing that I was ignoring them without actually telling them why.

It was the weekend and I figured that since Toushirou-Kun and Rangiku-San weren't here anymore, I could do anything I wanted.

I ignored school altogether. Tatsuki-Chan would normally pop by everyday after school to drop off any homework I had. I would work on it all night with the notes Tatsuki-Chan gave me. I would wake up early in the morning and give her the notes back and my homework.

_~Flashback~_

"_You really should come back to school Orihime. Everyone is worried about you. Even Ichigo."_

_Kurosaki-Kun is worried about me? I thought. Wow, even though I'm not there, he's still worried about me. Typical Kurosaki-Kun. I smiled at that thought._

"_It's alright Tatsuki-Chan! I don't think school is the right thing for me anymore. Everyone would wonder were I've been and I don't feel like explaining why." I said as I looked at her. She had a concern look on her face but I couldn't blame her. Especially since I told her everything and she promised not to tell. If I went back, I would just be a burden on everyone. _

"_Alright then, but I gotta get to school if I want to hand both our homework in. I'll talk to you later alright Orihime?" She waved as she continued on her way. I smiled back with a small wave of my own. _

_~End of Flashback~_

I sighed. I didn't even realize where I went and I ended up crashing into the one person I didn't really want to see the most.

"K-Kurosaki-Kun??" I stuttered as I looked up at his face. He just looked back down at me.

"Hey Inoue. How have you been? Haven't seen you around for ages." He had a small grin on his face as he held out his hand to help me up off the ground.

"I-I'm fine." I didn't know why I kept stuttering. This isn't like me. Well, to be honest, after all we've been through, I still get nervous around him. I took his hand and he helped me off the ground.

"Well, that's good to hear. I guess." He mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck. I giggled. It seemed like he was nervous too.

"I'm sorry Kurosaki-Kun! I didn't watch where I was going. I seem to be doing that a lot ehehe!" I ran my hand through my hair trying to distract myself.

"Where are you going anyways Inoue?" He asked as he stared at me,

"I dunno, I just like to wander around by myself. I was thinking of going to Tatsuki-Chan's house but I remembered that she had to go to a martial arts tournament this weekend so now I have nothing to do. I guess being in my house for three weeks made me nervous since Toushirou-Kun or Rangiku-San isn't here anymore."

"Oh I see. You know everyday Ochi-Sensei askes me, Rukia, Chad, Renji, Uryu, and Tatsuki where you are. I'm pretty sure everyone misses you being there. I know I do. Things just seem dull without you there to spark things up. I mean Chizuru keeps glaring at me and keeps interrogating me about where you are. It's so damn annoying! If Tatsuki wasn't there, I would've pounded her into the ground a lot time ago." He huffed.

I gawked at him. I never knew he cared that much. He's just my nakama and that's all he'll ever be. Even if I admitted my feelings to him, he loves Rukia. I guess that's why I stay far away from him as much as possible.

"So how's Kuchiki-San and Abarai-Kun doing?" I hesitated to ask.

"They're doing alright I suppose. I don't really care much. They always stay at Urahara's shop mooching off of him. I'm just glad that dolt managed to ask her out. It's about damn time they are a couple." He muttered.

I looked at him with shocked eyes. _He's serious right? He's not in love with Kuchiki-San? I always thought he did. I mean you could see it in his eyes when he worried about her. You could also see it in her eyes too. Maybe he likes me! Then again, why would he like someone like me to begin with? I always need saving and I never help out at all. I'm just a burden to everyone, That's why I left to begin with. So I could be help but all it did was get them to rescue me and hurt them in the process._

**~Ichigo's POV~**

Everything went silent. She just stared up at me. I wish I could read her mind so I knew what she was thinking. The silence was starting to bother me but I never said anything. I just watched her eyes and the emotions that flickered. It went from happy to sad in a flash. I never really understood why though. Maybe she thought that she was a burden to me? Either way, how am I supposed to get her attention?

I noticed her head droop down. My eyes softened without even realizing it. There was so much I wanted to ask her. But I didn't want to pressure her into talking about something she never wanted to talk about. I remembered something that Tatsuki told me and Renji at school.

_~Flashback~_

"_She says that it feels like school doesn't matter anymore. I seriously tried to convince her to come back but she said that it would have been too hard. Either way, she told me about everything. You two being Shinigami and where she disappeared to. She tried to make it sound as happy as possible but I could tell by looking at her eyes. What she says and her emotions are two different things. She doesn't want to burden you guys and she feels like if she told any of you what happened, you would leave her. Never want to talk to her again. I told her that would never happen but she never believed a word I said. Even though she never showed tears on the outside, I could tell that she was crying on the inside."_

"_Well, what did she say? I mean we deserve to know Tatsuki." I looked at her with a determined expression. _

"_To be honest the whole thing is complicated. All she said was that if she didn't go with some dude named Ulquiorra, he promised to kill all of you. She also mentioned that Aizen guy or whatever his name is. She told me that if she disobeyed everything he said, he would kill her and you."_

"_Tatsuki, did she mention anything else?" Renji asked in my place since he felt my reiatsu rise and saw my hands clenched._

"_He used her guys. He seriously used her to get towards Ichigo. He even threatened her by saying that if she never did anything he said, he would kill everyone right in front of her. He even chained her to the wall. He kept using his zanpakutou on her and changed her psychologically. She doesn't act like she used to. Says there's no point. Anyways, they forced her to eat. If she never touched her food, they would force it down her throat. She got beat to death by these two arrancar girls just because they were jealous of her. It was all so much to bear. But all I could do was listen to what she told me. I felt so helpless just seeing her torn in half. I didn't know what I could do or say to comfort her. She also has nightmares about that place. She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and literally pounds on her bed. She screams into her pillow and cries until she falls asleep. At least that's what she told me." _

_Our eyes widened. Even though we killed Aizen, she was haunted by him. No matter what we did, he made himself appear in her mind. Freaking her out day and night. _

"_Alright thanks for telling us Tatsuki." Renji bowed his head._

"_If I were you guys, you should check up on her. See if she's alright. I have my tournament this weekend so I won't be able to see her. If any of you aren't busy, try and talk to her." She replied._

"_I would but I have to go back to the Soul Society with Rukia." Renji looked down in disappointment._

"_I'll go check up on her. Maybe if I can, I'll get through to her." I said sadly._

"_Alright thanks guys. Well we should sit down before Ochi-Sensei yells at us." Tatsuki chimed in._

_We nodded and sat at our desks._

_~End of Flashback~_

Man that pissed me off. Knowing what Inoue went through got me so pissed off. I was glad that there were hollows around so I could take my anger out on them. To be honest, I skipped school since that day. I wanted to be on my own so I could try and figure out what I could do to help her.

Only after now I realized that I seriously had feelings for her. But I had no idea how to tell her. Let alone figure out if she liked me the same way. The wind continued to blow, scattering the fallen leaves that hit the ground. Some got stuck in her hair. I reached out and grabbed it.

She gasped and looked up at me. I gave her a gentle smile. Maybe if I promised one more time to always protect her, it would help ease her pain. Without thinking, I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my embrace. It was so weird. I never expected to do that. But she didn't seem to mind since she wrapped her arms around my waist, gripping my shirt.

I felt something wet on my shirt. Then I realized, she was crying.

"Just cry all you want Orihime. I won't mind." I mumbled into her hair. She smelt so good I just wanted to stay like this. Keep her close. It felt so right having her against me. It made me smile at the thought.

"Ichigo, I'm glad to have you here with me. I'm sorry if I caused you all that pain. You didn't have to sacrifice yourself for me. It probably would've been for the best if you left me-" I cut her off by pressing my lips against hers.

She gasped but she melted right into me. It felt so nice. Maybe this actually means I do love her that much. If I have to cut her off just to prove a point.

"Don't blame yourself for me getting hurt. I was the one who came after you. I did it to show how much I cared about you. I promised I would always protect you. And that's what I'm going to do. Even if I have to go against the world. I'll be there to save you." I whispered.

She just looked at me. I wiped her tears away with my thumbs and kissed her on the nose. She chuckled at the feeling and had the cutest blush and smile. I knew this was her true self.

I bent down on the ground and motioned for her to get on. She blushed but she complied by wrapping her arms around my neck. I felt her legs wrap around my waist and started to walk.

"hang on tight." I told her.

She nodded and I started walking. I felt her head on my shoulders and smiled.

"Ichi, I love you." She whispered.

I grinned.

"I love you too. More than five lifetimes."

A/N: Alright. This turned out totally different but when I wrote this it just came with the flow I suppose. This is my first time just typing straight onto the computer. I never wrote a rough draft. The season is autumn just to let you know. Which I think you might have caught on when I mentioned the leaves.

Reviews please!

~Tia-Chan~


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